Gershon Baskin, PhD Biography

Israeli Co-Director and Founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information

Position:

Pro to the question "Is a Two-State Solution (Israel and Palestine) an Acceptable Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?"

Reasoning:

"There is only one solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if 'solution' means ending the conflict, and that is two states for two peoples. This is axiomatic [self-evident/unquestionable] because this conflict is between two national movements which have proven their willingness to fight, die and kill so that each could have a territorial expression of their identity. Each side is fighting for a land they can call their own, on which they express their identity, and through which their identity is expressed. Both movements are fighting over the same piece of land. The option of one united peaceful state with a homogenized identity – the United States of Israel-Palestine – is not real because neither side wants a homogenized identity; both sides are willing to continue to fight, with even more passion and venom so that the one state takes on their own identity.
When I meet Israelis and Palestinians who advocate the so-called 'one state solution, as soon as I dig below the nice slogans, what I find is that the Israelis are talking about a Jewish state with a large Arab minority and the Palestinians are talking about a Palestinian state with a large Jewish minority. Neither side of the so-called 'one-staters' is really willing to give up its dream of the territorial expression of its identity.
So like it or not… we do not have a choice – there has to be a two-state solution, and obviously the longer we procrastinate in making the hard decisions, the more difficult it will be."